Olympic Athletes Snub Israeli Opponents

PARIS (KI) – Algerian judoka Messaoud Redouane Dris has withdrawn from his first match of the 2024 Paris Olympics after being selected to compete against the Zionist regime’s judoka Tohar Butbul.

The International Judo Federation issued a brief statement, declaring Butbul the winner by walkover.
Dris was officially disqualified for missing weight on the day before he was scheduled to take on Butbul.
The match was scheduled to be the first in the men’s 73-kilogram division on Monday.
This is the second straight Olympics in which an Algerian judoka drops out of the games right before he is to face Butbul. In Tokyo Games in 2021, Algeria’s Fethi Nourine withdrew to avoid a potential second-round matchup with Butbul.
Nourine explicitly cited his support for Palestine in announcing his decision after which he and his coach, Amar Benikhlef, were suspended for 10 years by the International Judo Federation in September 2021.
Algeria does not officially recognize Israel as a country. 
The Zionist regime’s presence at the Paris Games has stirred protests at various points over the regime’s genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip. However, defying the global outcry against Israel’s participation in the Paris Games, the International Olympic Committee and the French government have firmly backed the regime.
Before the games began, a US-based rights advocacy group said Israel should be barred from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 over a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about the occupying regime’s barbaric crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. 
Fadi Quran, the executive director at Avaaz nonprofit organization, made the statement in a social media post last Tuesday following an ICJ advisory opinion asserting that Israel is committing apartheid and systematic discrimination against Palestinians and has effectively annexed large portions of their territory through its occupation.
In another event, Tajik judoka Nurali Emomali has refused to shake hands with his Israeli opponent, becoming the second Muslim athlete to snub a representative from the regime at the international multi-sport event in protest at atrocities against Palestinians.
The 22-year-old judo practitioner faced off against Israel’s Baruch Shmailov at the round of 16 in Pool B of the men’s 66-kilogram category on Sunday.
He refused to shake Shmailov’s hand after his win. He was also heard shouting Allah Akbar (God is the Greatest) toward his Israeli opponent.
Emomali went on to square off against Japan’s Hifumi Abe in the quarterfinals. But Emomali went down with a left arm injury as he tried to brace his fall and was forced to withdraw from the tournament.